I'm A Musician, Too
by reeselynrose
Summary: Never quit in your music no matter what happens, because anytime something bad happens to you, it's the one place you can just escape to and just let it go. August Rush
1. For the First Time

SUMMARY: August is reunited with his parents and he meets new friends at Julliard. He grows in his talent and performs almost monthly. He is practically famous now.

AUTHORS NOTE: I do not own August Rush anything, I just like writing for fun. Also, here is a warning: You will not understand my story if you have not seen August Rush. So if you don't understand it, just ask me to explain it to you.

* * *

The last notes were played. August turned around and looked around for a moment. He caught sight of his parents and gave the most sincere smile of happiness ever seen. He took the first step towards his parents. He ran offstage and gave his mom the biggest hug you could ever want. Then he turned and recognized his dad, and his dad recognized him.

"Hey, kid, you're the kid who played with me guitar earlier. Pretty good sounds." August laughed and gave his father a huge hug.

"We were pretty good!"

Lyla remembered the night she thought he had died. Her father had lied to her, had said he was dead when he knew he wasn't, had said it would be best for her because she was so young. Now, 11 years, 3 months, and 17 days later, she saw her child for the first time.

Louis, on the other hand, was surprised to find out that he had a son. But as soon as he saw him, he knew.

The audience was speechless after the piece; it had taken them. How could this 11-year-old boy write this amazing piece? It was crystal-clear that he was a musical genious. Crowds started making their way towards him to congratulate him.

"No, please, not now." August responded. He caught sight of Arthur and Mr. Jeffries, but he didn't care. He wanted his parents now.

"So, what do you like to go by anyway? August or Evan?" Lyla asked jokingly.

"August. I want to be called August Rush."

"All right." The group began walking around Central Park in the moonlight. "And what have you been doing all these years?"

"Listening. Listening for your music." August said, his smile increasing.

"So you can hear us?" Louis and Lyla exclaimed at once.

"Yes I could. I always thought it was you anyway." August replied. "Now I know it was you."

They continued walking. August recieved many praises and finally Lyla spoke.

"So where should we stay? Should we fly back to Chicago, or go to San Francisco, or stay here?"

August took no time in answering the question. "Stay here." He blushed. "I mean, I like it here. I like the city. It inspires my music."

'Well, then. Louis, is that fine?"

"Sure, why not. What's left in San Francisco anyway?"

"So we can stay in my rented room until we find an apartment or something." The comment was partly a question, partly a statement.

"Sure, that sounds great." August perked up.

They left Central Park with some more praises as Lyla led the way to her room. When they arrived they set up beds and fell asleep.

The next day August realized that his other clothes were in the church with Reverand James and Hope. He snuck over there and grabbed all of his things that were there after leaving a short note stating that he had come taken his things. When he returned, he found the room empty. His mom had left a note on her bed.

_August - We didn't know where you went!! We were worried and went looking for you. We should be back in an hour if we don't find you. Love, Lyla 9:14am_

August hit his forehead with frustration at himself. He had forgotten to tell his parents where he was. He looked at the clock. 9:48am. They should be home soon. August decided that he had worried them and they deserved an apology. He barely knew them, but any parent would be worried about their kid if he just disappeared. He needed to get out of that habit. It was okay with Wizard, but not...

Wizard.

He was probably steaming mad at August and looking for him. He was also probably mad at Arthur and looking for him too.

What to do?

Oh well. Right now August had to find a way to pay back for his parents' worry. Buy a pizza for them? Arthur would love that. But not Louis and Lyla. Make breakfast for them? Why not. They would love that. But one problem: August wasn't sure he knew the first thing about cooking. No, making breakfast wouldn't work. Maybe he couldn't pay them back...

A few hours later Louis and Lyla walked through the door. They found maybe hundreds of paper sheets spread across the floor. Somewhere within the area of the paper August lay bent over some music notes written in pencil. He looked up.

"Hi, mom. Hi, dad."


	2. A Surprise from Dad

"Hi..." Lyla stopped talking and bent down to pick up one of the sheets of music. At first glance she could tell that it was intense, really complex. Something maybe Bach would write, but not her very own 11-year-old August! A song she had played for a recital a couple months ago by Mozart looked quite similar.

Lyla opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't find quite the right words. Great? No way. Amazing? Nah. Miraculous? Maybe.

"Wow." Lyla managed to say.

"Cool!" Louis added.

"I was hoping that I could write a trio, and we could play. Together." August explained softly.

Louis and Lyla looked at each other in amazement.

"Why, of course that's a wonderful idea! But, what would you play?" Lyla asked.

"I play the guitar, and the piano. I am writing this piece for a cello, a guitar, and a piano. Mom on the cello, Dad on the guitar, and me on the piano." August said, getting excited now.

The Connelys couldn't find any more words to say. There was a long period of complete silence. Finally, Louis exited the room with no explanation. Lyla sat down and August sharpened his pencil and continued with his piece. About an hour later, there was a knock on the door. August stood and opened the door to reveal 3 strong men with a huge box about 3 times as big as August.

"Excuse me, is this the residence of Mr. August Rush?" one of the men said.

"It is, for now, and this is him."

"Then there is a special delivery for you in this here big box. May we take it in?" the same man said.

"Yes."

At that, the men struggled and carried it into the room and put it down in the empty corner of the room. They noticed all the papers and all 6 of their eyes became as wide as a marble.

"Okay then, I guess we'll be going." The men left, closing the door with a bang.

There was another silence. No one moved or made any noise. Finally August couldn't bear it any longer. He ran over to the box and tore it open carefully. Inside were 2 items, or should I say instruments...

August had the biggest smile on his face he had ever had since last night. He began removing the instruments with some help from Lyla. Just then Louis returned with a cheery smile on his face, whistling happily.

"Oh, what's this?" he teased, faking an innocent dad.

"Oh, stop it Louis! You know just what they are!" Lyla said.

Inside the box was a guitar and a spinet piano. Louis began helping to move the piano out of the box.

"Okay, Louis. How'd you do it?" Lyla couldn't hold in the question any more.

"Ah, I've been saving a bit because I felt like there might be something I could do, and here it is. When August said he likes to play the piano and guitar and I saw all those papers full of music, I knew what I wanted to do with it."

"Wow, Dad, thanks so much!" August said. Somehow he felt like that wasn't enough, so he rushed over to Louis and gave him a big hug.

After everything was settled, August immediately began playing and writing furiously. He stopped once in a while for a snack or dinner, but by sunset he had probably 20 final pages of his piece. By then he was worn out completely, and he promptly plopped down on his makeshift bed and fell asleep.

He dreamed that he was a famous composer who graduated from Julliard. But when he woke up, his dream was forgotten - for the moment.


	3. Starting School

August woke up to the familiar city sounds of cars honking and people chatting. No, not the familiar city sounds, but the familiar city music. He layed there thinking and listening, and finally his hunger caused him to get up and find something to eat. Louis and Lyla weren't up yet, so August looked around the room for some sort of food. He found an apple, so he bit into it, still listening to the music of the city. Suddenly he rushed over to his music notebook and scribbled in some notes and symbols. Then he tapped his pencil to the rhythm of someone walking outside, then wrote something else down.

Louis woke up then, messy tangled hair looking quite amusing, and grabbed a box of cereal that he found in the cupboard.

"Hey, Evan, ever thought of going to Julliard's?"

"I have been there but only for a short time. Then..." August remembered clearly the night when he had been conducting the orchestra, having a good time, and Wizard had come in and interrupted the rehearsal, pretending he was his father, and taking August when he left.

"Then there was an...interruption and I haven't gone since." August finished.

"Wanna go again?"

"Yes, more than anything."

"Well, we'll have to save up, but I think we can do it, son."

August paused here and thought about it for a minute. Finally he started whooping around the room and pounding softly on the piano.

A week later, Lyla found a good apartment with 2 bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen/dining room for a reasonable price and they bought it. They moved in and got settled. They enrolled August in the nearest middle school. Both Louis and Lyla stayed in their music - Louis in his band and Lyla in her orchestra.

August walked around his middle school searching for his homeroom on the first day. As he turned a corner, he nearly knocked over a boy with blonde hair and brown eyes.

"Oh, sorry..." August quickly stammered.

"Oh, are you new? Trying to find your way around?" the kid said.

"Yes, and yes."

"Good, because I'm not new, and I know my way around."

"Are you trying to say you are going to help me?" August looked a bit surprised.

"Well, yes. Let me see your schedule card." The boy extended his hand as August handed him the card.

"Oh, hey, you're in some of my classes! Okay, so your homeroom is S14, just go down that hall and turn right. Then keep on going straight, then turn left. 2 doors down on the right."

"Okay thanks!" August tried to remember everything and took off.

"By the way, I'm Jake!" Jake called after August.

"August!" August called back.

When he got to his homeroom, he went up to the teacher and asked what he should do and where he should sit. She pointed to a desk in the far corner.

August sat down and took a minute to look around him. Beside him was a small girl with short brown hair, in front of him was a girl with long blonde hair in a ponytail, diagonal to him was a girl with really short reddish hair. Why did he have to be surrounded by girls! Wait - he looked behind him and there was a boy with light brown hair.

The small girl with short brown hair turned and said, "Hi, I'm Natasha. What classes do you have?" August handed her his schedule card. She glanced over it quickly.

"Okay, this is awesome. We have the same classes, so I can show you around if you want. Or you can just follow me." Natasha smiled. "What's your name?"

"August. August Rush."

"Cool." Then a bell rang. August decided to follow Natasha. She smiled when she noticed he had taken her advice.

"You can call me Nat."

"You can call me August. It's my nickname, really. My real name is - well, I don't really have one. But the orphanage called me Evan Taylor."

"The orphanage..."

"It's a long story. But I'll make it short: I found my parents."


	4. Listen to the Music

August walked into the cafeteria later when he remembered that he had no idea where to sit. He looked around for familiar faces, and found both Jake and Natasha sitting next to each other. He walked over shyly, but excitedly.

"Hey guys, can I..."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Um, how about right there?" Jake pointed to an empty seat right across the table from them.

"Okay, thanks!" August made his way around the table to the seat and slapped his books down. He walked over to the lunch line, reaching into a pocket for his lunch money as he went. When the line slowly died down, he found himself in the kitchen. The wide-eyed new kid overlooked all the choices: chicken nuggets with mashed potatoes, a hamburger with fries, a cheeseburger with strawberries, or spaghetti with meatballs? One of the kids behind him told him to 'hurry up, please', so August grabbed a tray with chicken nuggets on it. He handed the cashier lady his money, 3 dollars, and she gave him 1 dollar back. August guessed that lunch was 2 dollars, not 3, and decided then and there to go to the snack line and buy some ice cream. As he went to the snack line, he noticed a big salad bar and made a mental note to get that tomorrow. The snack line only had 4 people in it, so soon August had to choose if he wanted an ice cream sandwich, some strawberry vanilla cups, or a vanilla cone with nuts and cherries. He decided on an ice cream sandwich. He gave the cashier his dollar, and got a quarter back. Then he weaved his way out of the line and hurried back over to his table.

Nat and Jake had apparently left to get their lunch, so August sat down and began eating a chicken nugget. He looked around for Nat and Jake and spotted them in the left lunch line. They always seemed to be together; maybe they are related, August thought.

Then August began hearing things, music, in his head. He tapped his foot softly to the rhythm of people chatting and trays slamming. A song began to form in his mind...

Suddenly, Nat and Jake were across the table from him, giving him queer looks. August turned as red as the strawberry on Nat's plate and looked away, embarrassed. He had not realized that in his daze, he had tapped his foot hard and was loudly humming the tune of the song. Nat was the first to speak.

"What in the world-"

"Umm..." Jake tried to find something to say. "So what's up? Did you find your way around okay?" He tried to change the subject.

"Yeah, and nothing really. By the way, are you two related somehow? You look alike, a little, and you seem...I don't know." August murmured.

"Yeah, Jake's my twin brother." Nat answered. "I got the small genes, apparently." She smiled to show that she didn't mind getting the small genes. Jake and she both sat down in their seats and began eating. August picked up another chicken nugget and ate it. After a minute, Nat spoke again.

"So, what were you doing?"

"Um, I...I was listening." August answered simply.

"Listening...to what?"

"The music. Can't you hear it? It's all around us."

"Um...no?"

"Trays slamming, doors creaking, people chatting, cash registers clinging?" August added. Both Nat and Jake began listening hard. Something in Nat's face lit up and she smiled.

"Hey, I do hear it. 'Bum, da dum, bum, ding,' it says."

"Yeah, that's it!" August exclaimed. But Jake still looked confused.

"What? I still don't know what you guys are talking about," he said.

"The music. You can't hear it?"

"No..."

"I can." An strangely familiar voice came up behind August. August turned around to see who had spoken and saw the blonde-haired girl who sits next to him in homeroom.

"Hi, I'm Kelsey. I play the violin, and love it," Kelsey introduced.

"Okay, hi. I'm August. I play the piano and the guitar," he said. "And I write music."

"Do you love it?" Kelsey asked.

"More than you can ever imagine."

"Wow. Can I sit here?" Kelsey had a hopeful, questioning look on her face.

"Sure," all three said at once. Kelsey sat down next to August since that was the closest available seat. She had finished her lunch.

"So, you write music?" Kelsey asked.

"Yeah." August managed between bites of mashed potatoes. He got up to clear his tray and stack it, and Kelsey followed him.

"Cool. Like what?"

"Well, like...I don't know. Did you go to the concert a while back at Central Park?" August dumped his tray.

"Yeah, it was an orchestra field trip." Kelsey remembered. August smiled as he added his tray to the stacks of them on the counter.

"I was the last conductor. August Rush, composer of August's Rhapsody."

"No way. That was the song with the glass cups and the little girl singing and everything, right?" August nodded. "That was so awesome, no lie!"

"Thanks," August said. Then the bell rang and the new friends departed to their next classes.


	5. Kelsey's iPod

The bell rang for the end of school and August walked out of the classroom and towards his locker. He entered the combination and, with many tries, opened the locker. He traded in stuff that he didn't need for homework for things that he did need, stuffed it in his backpack, slammed his locker shut, and ran towards the exit. When he got outside he walked down the stairs and found his bus. He walked up the bus stairs and saw Kelsey on his bus! He sat near her.

"Hi, Kelsey! Do you hear the music now? I do, more than ever."

"Yeah, I hear the music. I hear a really cool rhythm going." Kelsey smiled.

"Yeah, it goes like..." August tapped a rhythm on the seat before him. Kelsey nodded. The bus started moving away from the school.

Kelsey took out an iPod and stuck the earphones in her ears. August looked at her with a strange look. He had never seen an iPod, except once on the street.

"What's that?" August asked

"It's an iPod, it plays music. Wanna listen?" Kelsey said as she removed one of her earphones from her ear.

"Sure." August took the earphone and put it in his ear. Immediately, the chorus of Live Your Life by T.I. and Rihanna began. _So live your life. OH! Ay, ay, ay..._

"Cool." August said. He looked over at Kelsey and saw that she was mouthing the words of the song. "Can I see your iPod?" August asked.

"Sure." Kelsey handed him her iPod. August clicked and held a button and came to the menu. He clicked a circle button and saw a list of things: Artist, Album, Songs, Playlist...and Composer. He asked Kelsey how to scroll. She demonstrated and he scrolled to Artist and pressed the middle button. On the screen of Kelsey's iPod was a list of a couple artists that August had heard about: Rihanna, High School Musical Cast, Vanessa Hudgens,Taylor Swift, and some others. He selected Taylor Swift and then a list of some of her songs came up. Teardrops on My Guitar, Our Song, Love Story, and Fearless were listed. August scrolled to Teardrops on My Guitar and selected it. _Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see._

"Hey, I know a song that you would love." Kelsey said with a mischievous smile as she took her iPod back and began clicking buttons. When she finished clicking, the first couple measures played and August smiled really big because he knew very well what was playing.

"How'd you get this?"

"I recorded it at the concert." Kelsey smiled as August's Rhapsody played.

"Wow, I wrote this?" August laughed and looked out the bus window.

"Yeah, you did."

"Whoa, it's almost my stop, I think. The bus is in my neighborhood." August said as he gave Kelsey her earphones back. "Thanks for letting me listen."

"No problem." Kelsey said as she began wrapping her earphones around her iPod.

The bus stopped at August's apartment building and August got off. When he got to the door of the apartment building, he turned around and waved at the bus as it left out of sight. Then August ran inside into the elevator and found himself on the 3rd floor in his apartment with Louis and Lyla there asking him many questions about his first day at school.


	6. Some Important Planning

Louis and Lyla had finished asking August questions about school and August decided to ask a question that he had been holding in for a while.

"Dad, there's a picture in your guitar case of you and a couple guys playing on a stage. Who are they?"

"Oh, they're my bros...we were in a band." Louis answered, looking into space, reminiscing the days years ago. August saw the look on his face and regretted asking because Louis had a sad look on his face.

"Dad...sorry for asking," August apologized.

"No, thanks for asking, man. I needed the memories..." Louis stopped talking abruptly and went to the phone and started dialing slowly.

"Hey, Nick, what's up....yeah, I miss the old days, too....how's life? Pretty good. Hey, my son, August, we found him a while ago....wanna come here? I'm sure my son would love to meet you and Marshall.....okay great! See ya then." Louis hung up the phone with a smile.

"Nice to talk to him." Then he dialed something again. "Hey, Marshall, it's Louis, your little bro. Call me back, please." Louis hung up the phone, this time not smiling. "I got the answering machine, but I could tell that Marshall was there - I could hear his breathing on the other line...I don't know." Lyla gave him a sympathetic, loving smile.

"What's the matter, Dad?"

"Years ago, I quit our band. Now my brothers are..well...unforgiving, angry at me." Louis said, fighting back tears and not succeeding very well.

"Aw, dad. So is your other brother - Nick, right? - coming?" August tried to create a positive feeling in the room.

"Yeah, he's coming. He said he'll get back to me about the details."

"Well, that's good." August said. Louis and Lyla were exchanging looks, but August couldn't tell what they were saying through the looks. Finally, the expression-talking ended and Lyla smiled and spoke out loud.

"August, Louis and I have been talking about...well, family. And both of us agree that we should get married, and soon. But we felt that since you are our son, that you should have a say in this as well. What do you think?"

There was an unbearable moment of silence in which August thought of the perfect words to say. Finally he answered with tears in his eyes:

"I say that that would be the most perfect, amazing, wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. Ever."

Louis and Lyla shared another one of those looks, and Louis nodded.

"Hey, son, what do you say about...maybe...Saturday as our wedding day?"

Well, seeing as it was Thursday, August had no trouble answering.

"Yes, no later please!"

"And would you like to be our best man?" Lyla asked, her eyes shining.

"Yes, I would most honorably be your best man!" August had a smile almost as big as when he first saw his parents at the concert. This was all turning out too good. He thought of himself a couple months before and almost couldn't remember what it had been like as a "student" of Wizard's.

"And I have a nephew and a niece named Steven and Sophie who I think would be perfect as ringbearer and flower girl, and would be happy to do it." Louis added.

"And I think that my neice, Angela, would love to be another flower girl. And, of course, the bridesmaid is going to be Liz..."

The happiness in the room was unmeasurable. Three human beings were in the room, overloading with happiness, yet it seemed like three butterflies: flying with joy and freeness.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

*This chapter is partly dedicated to Jonathan Fan for his idea to have August meet Louis' brothers, and so will the chapters in which August actually DOES meet Marshall and Nick.

*Also, I don't know much about weddings, so if anyone can give some facts on what weddings are like and how they go and everything, that would be helpful!


	7. Apple Blossoms

Because it was late spring, Lyla suggested having the wedding in a nearby apple orchard because the apple trees would be blooming and their blossoms would look beautiful with the light, creamy white dress that Lyla had purchased. Louis agreed and continued searching for a nice suit or a tux and a tie in his closet. He didn't find anything, so he went to a nearby store and bought the proper clothes. August went with him to find something that would be proper for a best man. Louis and Lyla decided to make the wedding later because there was much more planning then they had expected - there was food, clothes, guests, decorations, location, plane tickets...what had they been thinking!

Both the bride and groom had contacted the guests and participants that they had been thinking of, telling them that the wedding would be in 2 weeks, and had received word that Louis' neice and nephew, Steven and Sophie, would be able to be flower girl and ring-bearer and would come with their family. Liz, the ecstatic best friend of Lyla's who had recently been married herself, had told Lyla that she would be very happy to be her bridesmaid and would come as soon as possible. Lyla contacted the apple orchard to verify permission to have a wedding there in 2 weeks, and they approved. Everything was going well; in fact, both Marshall and Nick had said that they would be able to make it. (Marshall had finally answered his phone, to Louis' surprise!)

As for August, school was going well and his friends were very happy for him (though confused at first as to why his parent's weren't married already). Kelsey, Natasha, and Jake all became close friends of August and August had a nice group of friends to sit with at lunch, of course including Kels, Nat, and Jake. He had become quite popular within his grade - but he had his enemies. There were some kids who just couldn't take in the fact that there was a musical genius in the school who claimed that he could hear music all the time.

Unfortunately, Lyla found out that her neice Angela would not be able to make it because of a huge concert that was mandatory for Angela to attend because her parents had spent quite a lot of money for tickets - more than a last-minute plane ticket would cost! But fortunately, only one flower girl was needed and Sophie had already committed to that job. Guest after guest called to say whether they could come or not, and so far Louis and Lyla had 27 guests, including Nat and Jake's family and Kelsey and her parents whom August had invited.

Time passed quickly, and soon the day came in which Lyla Novacek would become Mrs. Louis Connely. Lyla had gotten her hair done in beautiful curls and twists and was getting ready with Liz. It was a Saturday at 4pm, and guests were arriving by the minute at the apple orchard. The wedding would start at 4:30 and almost all the guests were there by 4:00. People were helping to set up tables and chairs and the food was being placed on the tables. August greeted the guests until Kelsey arrived and then they talked, waiting for Nat and Jake. When Nat and Jake arrived, all the kids met Steven and Sophie and became quick friends. Finally, the half-hour passed and everyone was there. The service began and the living parents and immediate family of the bride and groom walked down the "aisle" as the music started. They sat down as Sophie slowly dripped flower petals down the aisle. Then, Lyla walked down the aisle with Louis, arm in arm. Because of Lyla's father's passing not long ago, the traditional 'bride walks down the aisle with her father' could not be possible. Lyla had on her beautiful creamy white gown that flowed in the wind and matched the blossoming apple trees, and both were smiling the most beautiful smiles, and joyful tears formed in their eyes. Steven followed with the rings, which were both made of silver decorated with diamonds: one big diamond on Lyla's and three small diamonds on Louis'. The bride and groom reached the end of the aisle, where August, Liz, and the bishop were waiting, and were married, both caught up in each other as they said, "I do." Louis tenderly slipped Lyla's ring onto her delicate finger, and next Lyla slipped Louis' ring onto his strong, firm finger. "You may now kiss the bride." And they did.

Later, August, Kelsey, Nat, Jake, Steven, and Sophie sat together at a table under a light-pink-blossomed apple tree, each with a plate of goodies and a cup of soda.

"So, August, is this the best day of your life?" Nat asked, smiling.

"Yes." August simply answered, sipping his soda and trying to hide his tears of joy.

"It was a wonderful wedding, actually the first I have ever been to." Kelsey added as she bit into a cupcake.

The friends sat together, talking and eating, and August Rush now officially belonged to a family. And it felt good, like he finally belonged somewhere, to someone. A new feeling of freeness and pure happiness blossomed inside August as he sat there in an apple orchard with his friends and parents. He belonged.


	8. The Present

After the amazing wedding day, everyone went their separate ways. Most families went to the airport to catch a flight home, a few families drove home, and Liz, Marshall, and Nick walked with the Connelys to their apartment. While they walked, Louis introduced August to his brothers and roused up good conversation. August immediately liked Louis' brothers and enjoyed talking with them.

"So you're almost 12, kid?" Nick asked.

"Yup. On December 17th."

"Cool. 12's a good age." Marshall added, joining into the conversation.

"Yeah." Nick confirmed Marshall's statement.

Marshall and Nick were really nice to August and he was really glad that they were his uncles. Before they left, they gave August a wonderful present...

"Hey, August, so do you like animals?" Nick asked August randomly.

"Yeah, I really love them."

"Do you like cats?"

"I guess. I hear about them at school and they sound really cute and playful."

"Good, because we got you a kitten that we thought you'd love." Marshall let out the secret.

"Whoa! No way! Wh-" August exclaimed. He was interrupted by Nick.

"She's from a really great animal shelter. She's 2 months old and she's in your room. She-" Nick didn't even need to finish his sentence because August was already racing to his bedroom to see his new "baby".

From the living room of the apartment, Marshall, Nick, Louis, Lyla, and Liz could hear August talking to his new pet.

"Thanks, bros," Louis said. "I can already tell he loves her."

August came out of his room with his kitten lovingly in his arms. She was tiny and light brown with orange and dark-brown tortoiseshell markings.

"What are you going to name her?" Lyla asked.

"I don't know, maybe..." August's kitten looked at him and meowed. He smiled. "Melanie." She meowed again and tried to jump from August's arms. August bent down and let her go. Then, August took a cat toy that he had found in his bedroom and started dragging it around the room for Melanie to run after. August let Melanie have it and she clawed at it. She looked up at August and meowed. He bent down to pet her and she put her paw on his finger.

"Thank you so much, uncles." August said as he tenderly picked up Melanie and petted her as she lay in his arms. "I love her so much."

"Your welcome, kid." Nick said.

"No problem." Marshall said.

Melanie struggled again to get out of August's arms and this time, when August bent down and let her go, she ran to her litter box which was in August's room.

"Good, she's trained." Lyla said with a loving smile at Melanie.

"Well, I better go," Liz said. She got up from the chair that she was sitting in and hugged Lyla. "Bye."

"See ya, Liz," Lyla said. Liz opened the door and waved to everyone.

When she left, Marshall said, "Well, we better go, too. Our plane to San Francisco takes off in 2 hours."

Nick said to August, "Nice meeting you, kid." Then, to the newlyweds, he said, "Congrats on the wonderful wedding. Miss you all."

The brothers left with a slam of the door as August held his new kitten and smiled at her. Melanie was just what August needed to make his day by far the best in his life.

________________________________________________________________

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter is dedicated to Jonathan Fan for his idea for August to meet Louis's brothers and to my sister's new kitten, Dakota, for helping me to describe Melanie.


End file.
